• --This weekend's Histeria is one that I have long been looking forward to, as it deals with my favorite historical subject: World War II. The episode includes a song by Tom Ruegger called "The New Deal", and the segments "The Freedom League," "The Yalta Smorgasbord," and a re-enactment of the stock market crash. "The Freedom League" is the biggest section, and is separated into two parts. In it Roosevelt, Truman, Churchill and Stalin kick axis butt.
  
  --It has been decided that new episodes of Histeria will continue to air throughout the summer until all 52 episodes have aired.
  
  --Monday's New York Times featured a cover article about children's television, in which Histeria got a brief mention.

• Ain't it Cool News has this report from someone who saw Paul Dini and Bruce Timm at the WonderCon, and has some interesting items about Superman and Batman Beyond. Take a look at the "Talk Balk" section at the bottom of that page for some additional info and for some very interesting arguments regarding Batman Beyond's popularity overshadowing Batman & Superman.

• Info on the upcoming Aquaman episode of Superman, as well as the comic releases for July, can be found at The Comic Book Continuum.

• Can it be? Yes! Even more [no longer available] about the great ratings of Pokémon and Batman Beyond, this time in the form of a WB press release, and filled with lots of ratings numbers.

Thanks to TR, E.O. Costello, PlopKat, BatBoy and Vincent for today's news.

April 19, 1999

• In the latest issue of Batman: The Animated Newsletter, Boyd Kirkland talks about the plot for the canceled Batman movie, which would have involved The Joker and Bane.

• Kids' WB will be part of the Warner Bros.' new Looney Tunes marketing campaign called the "Mil-Looney-Um". Click here [no longer available] for details.

• More about the ratings power of Pokémon can be found here [no longer available].

• The Daily Buzz reported that the planned Batman Beyond movie has also derailed plans for a Catwoman movie.

• The Official Batman/Superman site has revealed the titles and descriptions of the remaining Superman episodes:
  
  "Legacy Part I"  -- Darkseid strips Superman of his memory and adopts him as a son in an effort to take over Earth.

  "Legacy Part II" -- Darkseid strips Superman of his memory and adopts him as a son in an effort to take over Earth.

  "The Demon Reborn" -- Batman comes to the rescue of Superman as Ra's Al Ghul, know as "The Demon" attempts to steal Superman's powers.

  "Unity" -- Supergirl teams up with Superman to save Ma and Pa Kent and the rest of Smallville, from an alien threat.

  "A Fish Story" -- When marine life in Metropolis threaten the citizens, Lois Lane discovers it is because Lex Luthor has taken Aquaman as a prisoner.

Thanks to Vincent, BDangelico, and the dozen who e-mailed me about the Superman episodes.

April 5, 1999

• This weekend's Histeria episode, "Megalomaniacs", is actually quite different from the first episode aired under that title. Inserted is "The Last Custer Stand" with the Miss Information leading the kids on a tour of Little Big Horn. Also, we meet the Dowager Empress on Barry Ding Live and Caesar explains "Veni vidi vici." Repeats include Miss Info and Cleo, and Cho Cho and Lucky Bob with Genghis Khan. The "Convert or Die" segment will no longer air. For purposes of the Episode Lists page, this will be considered the final version of episode #26, with the previous "Megalomaniacs" being called #26A. [Thanks to TR for this info]

• Even more [no longer available] about the success of Pokémon. [Thanks to Vincent for the link]

• The third animated Batman movie has been canceled by Warner Bros. Home Video. The movie, which was being produced by Boyd Kirkland and Randy Rogel (who also made Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero) was to be released direct-to-video sometime next year. This cancellation came only a week before script recording with the voice cast. WB Home Video now favors a Batman Beyond movie, likely because of its incredible success on Kids' WB. The Batman Beyond movie will be made by the regular Batman Beyond crew (Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, etc.), and not by Boyd Kirkland and Randy Rogel.
  
  Brian's Editorial:
  Now that Batman Beyond's incredible success has caused the Batman movie to be canceled, what will become of the Batman/Superman Adventures? Already there are no new episodes scheduled for next season due to the 52 episode commitment for Batman Beyond. With each ratings record that Batman Beyond breaks, it becomes less and less likely that there will ever be new episodes of Batman and Superman. This time next year Batman Beyond will likely have maintained its strong ratings, while the ratings of Batman & Superman will have fallen because of the continuous reruns. Why would WB make new episodes of a show with poor ratings, when they can make even more episodes of a show with great ratings? The future does not look bright for more animated adventures of Batman & Superman.
  
  Writing a few letters never hurts, though in the past they have not accomplished very much either. You can write to both these addresses about the cancellation of the Batman movie, and to the second address only to ask for new episodes of Batman & Superman. You can also visit a new website called Operation: Save Batman!
  
  Tom Lesinski
  Warner Bros. Home Video
  3903 W. Olive Ave.
  Burbank CA 91522
  
  Jean MacCurdy
  Warner Bros. TV Animation
  15303 Ventura Blvd., Suite 1200
  Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
  
  [Thanks to Boyd Kirkland for the info & addresses.]

April 1, 1999

• April 1st has come and gone, so the April Fool's Day news items have been moved to this page.